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Free software misses the point of open source. Open source wants to make the world a better place without strings attached, while free software just wants to pu
by jimmaswell 7y ago
Free software misses the point of open source. Open source wants to make the world a better place without strings attached, while free software just wants to push some bizzare ideology.
- adtac 7y agoNot bizarre in absolutely any way. The free software movement is a real thing that lobbies for you and me. Unlike silicon valley products, GPL and its siblings actually made the world a better place and to not recognise it is to be ungrateful. Even if making all software free is a dystopia, it's a good dystopia to strive towards.
- jimmaswell 7y agoI could have gone my whole life without politically charged GPL utilities like gcc but Uber and AirBnB have been very useful to me.
- arnoooooo 7y agoExcept nothing is "without strings attached" in life. To me "making the world a better place" is precisely about recognizing that everything is interdependent and setting up the right "strings", not about pretending we can live without them.
- jimmaswell 7y agoThe strategy doesn't even seem to really work. GPL stuff is generally just avoided and rewritten. So all you accomplished licensing with GPL was wasting worldwide developer time out of spite. Who knows if that wasted dev time might have cured cancer or something.
- diffeomorphism 7y agoDemocracy misses the point of anarchy. Anarchy wants freedom without strings attached, while democracy puts limits. Technically true, but "you don't get to take away other's freedom" to me seems an entirely sensible restriction and not at all "bizarre".
- jimmaswell 7y ago"If you use my free stock photo you have to give away your whole portfolio for free too" sounds unreasonable to me.
- 08-15 7y agoI own my computer and I want to own the software running on it. What's "bizarre" about that "ideology"?